7 Reasons

Seven reasons why that market research and consultation programme still has to happen.

You are living through unprecedented, challenging times.

Global economies are experiencing huge shocks.

The Bank of England said the UK economy could shrink by 14% in 2020, but it expects the downturn to be short and sharp, with growth of 15% predicted in 2021. The UK economy is expected to rebound to its pre-crisis size within two years. The IMF is predicting a 6.5% fall in UK GDP in 2020, and all types of businesses from across sectors are likely to be facing cash-flow crises.

Some organisations may feel pressure to cut budgets – including spend on customer / market research and consultation. But now is definitely not the time to STOP listening. Covid-19 is bringing about change in all markets, and all organisations (including yours) need to understand the implications in order to identify the opportunities.

We believe there are SEVEN REASONS why your research projects must continue – and seven strong arguments for protecting (or increasing) your investment in market research and customer consultation in the weeks and months ahead.

1. Check-in on your customers’ welfare

How has 2-3 months of lockdown been for your customers? Which customers have been most negatively impacted – how and why?

Show your customers that you care
Ensure your stretched resources are targeted most effectively in the short-term

2. How have you responded to this crisis relative to your competitors?

Which organisations have performed best during the previous weeks and months? Which have performed worst? How has this impacted on brand perceptions / consideration?

Capture and track benchmark scores on brand perceptions and service delivery against new Covid-relevant metrics
Prioritise improvements informed by insight on your new relative market position

3. How are needs and motivations changing?

Is what was important still important? How has decision making changed through the crisis?

Understanding needs and motivations is critical to effective product, service and communications design and delivery
Getting closer to what customers and prospects REALLY need is essential for you to demonstrate you know and “get” where they’re at

4. How are behaviours changing?

How have customers adapted? Which changes are temporary and which are permanent?

Ensure your processes are relevant and fit-for-purpose. Use this as a chance to change too – find new and better ways of operating
Align yourselves with your audiences’ new ways of doing things to stay relevant and friction-less

5. Getting the message right

What do customers and prospects want to hear? What don’t they want to hear? How and when do we communicate with them?

Optimise your communications efforts and budgets to maximum effect
Avoid the PR clangers that came thick and fast early on in the crisis

6. Your audience is more willing than ever to help

Is now an appropriate time to be asking customers and prospects what they think?

Now is the best time. Response rates and willingness to participate in qual and quant research is at record levels
Respondents are going above and beyond – with epic volumes of insight through online qualitative forums and communities

7. We have the tools to consult safely – as well as quickly and cost effectively

Is social distancing an issue for research and consultation?

Obviously not. We have expertise – and capacity – to deliver as many online surveys and phone surveys as you need
We have been at the cutting edge of digital qualitative research for years. This is boom-time for online communities, mobile qual and mini-Zoom groups

Seven good reasons for you to keep asking the questions.

Get in touch if you need some assistance formulating the right questions or interrogating the answers. We are happy to share case studies of how we have been helping some of our other clients through the Coronavirus crisis.

Give us a call +44 (0)161 235 5270 or drop us an email – theteam@mustard-research.com